This invention relates to a process for quaternizing tertiary amines in a microporous matrix.
It has been known heretofore that tertiary amines may be quaternized with an alkylating agent such as methyl chloride to yield a quaternary ammonium compound. It has also been known that such compounds may be useful in conditioning fabrics, as by rendering them soft or anti-static. U.S. Patent Application filed concurrently with this application, by A. J. Castro entitled "Dryer-Applied Fabric Composition", (Ser. No. 131,307 ) discloses a method for conditioning damp fabrics in an automatic dryer. The method disclosed therein comprises tumbling the damp fabrics under heat in a clothes dryer and concurrently contacting said clothes with a 3-dimensional microporous matrix containing a fabric-conditioning agent, for a length of time sufficient to transfer an effective amount of conditioning agent to such fabrics.
As quaternary ammonium compounds are useful conditioning agents, it has become desirable to load such quaternary ammonium compounds into the 3-dimensional microporous matrix disclosed in the aforementioned Patent Application by A. J. Castro. However, the loading of such quaternary ammonium compounds directly into such a microporous matrix is, at best, cumbersome. There has therefor arisen a need for an improved process for entraining such quaternary ammonium compounds in the aforementioned microporous matrix.
As the reaction between tertiary amines and alkylating agents, such as methyl chloride, is well known in the art, one possibility for loading such quaternary ammonium compounds into such a microporous matrix would be to simply load the microporous matrix with the tertiary amine, initially, then to quaternize the amine, in situ. Such a process is desirable, as certain tertiary amines may be utilized to directly form a microporous matrix as disclosed in U.S. Patent Application No. 814,351, filed July 11, 1977, entitled "Microporous Polymer Products and Methods for Making Same", by A. J. Castro. However, initial attempts to quaternize such amines in situ proved to be very time consuming and only partially successful. Thus, there arose a need for an improved process for quaternizing such tertiary amines entrained in a 3-dimensional microporous matrix.